Jose Altuve

Of course, our luck ran out in the bottom of the first of Sunday night’s opener between the Rangers and Astros. With Jose Altuve on first and no outs in the frame, a Matt Harrison pitch to Brett Wallace got away from A.J. Pierzynski, causing Altuve to try for second. The throw arrived on a…

Between now and Opening Day, HardballTalk will take a look at each of baseball’s 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2013 season. Up next: The Houston Astros. The Big Question: Will the Astros be historically bad? Maybe this isn’t the biggest question facing the…

This is the third entry in a position-by-position review of my 2012 projections. Along with looking at my top preseason top 10 (for fantasy purposes) from each spot, I’m highlighting some other interesting players. Any requests for players not covered can be made in the comments. 1. Robinson Cano – Yankees Projection: .309/.362/.520, 30 HR,…

Some time in the past year or so Mike Ferrin and Morgan Ensberg of XM MLB radio created a new unit of measurement: the Altuve. The measurement was formalized courtesy of the handy website, “How Many Altuves.” Now the Altuve has been coopted by the actual Jose Altuve, as he and Houston Astros teammates were…

Tonight’s 83rd Major League Baseball All-Star Game will officially open with Detroit’s Justin Verlander throwing to Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez. Still, my favorite part will take place before that. The Midsummer Classic isn’t the must-see event it was before Baseball Tonight, MLB Extra Innings and MLB.tv made seeing the league’s stars in action so much easier.…

Zack Greinke was ejected from yesterday’s game after throwing just four pitches when first base umpire Sam Holbrook tossed him for slamming the ball to the ground when he couldn’t beat Jose Altuve to the bag on a fielding play. Holbrook apparently thought Greinke was showing him up, but it was pretty apparent to just…

Zack Greinke was ejected in the bottom of the first inning against the Astros this afternoon for spiking a ball in the dirt following a close call at first base. Greinke gave up a leadoff triple to Jordan Schafer before Jose Altuve hit a chipper to Corey Hart at first base. Greinke ran over to…

You knew it was coming. In truth, I think those in charge did a better job of picking this season’s All-Stars than they have in recent years. Still, I have some disagreements, even if none of them are quite as vehement as last season’s. Austin Jackson (OF Tigers) – Jackson’s DL stint probably cost him…

Major League Baseball is announcing the All-Star rosters for each league this afternoon during an hour-long special on TBS. We’ll update this post as the names come in: The 2012 MLB All-Star Game is next Tuesday, July 10, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. AMERICAN LEAGUE Starters C Mike Napoli 1B Prince Fielder 2B…

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve hasn’t appeared in a game in six days because of a mild right hamstring strain. But he was available for use as a pinch-hitter on Saturday afternoon against the Cubs and is nearly ready to return for good. According to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, Astros manager Brad Mills told reporters after…

There’s still time to vote, but if it ended now, the NL All-Star team would look like so. Changes to possible starters: Ryan Braun pulled ahead of Melky Cabrera for the third outfield slot, reversing last week’s reversal. Otherwise, the same old same old, with the changes only affecting downballot stuff: CATCHER Buster Posey, Giants:…

Just like in Monday’s AL balloting update, one spot in the National League projected All-Star lineup changed hands this week. Melky Cabrera moved ahead of Ryan Braun into third place in the outfield. Cabrera is deserving based on his performance this season, but one can’t help but notice that Giants fans have been awfully generous…

Nationals 7, Mets 6: The legend of Bryce Harper grows. A game-winning hit in the 12th inning. What say you, Harper? “I’m happy to get the W, of course. I’m happy to get that walk-off hit, but I don’t like going 2 for 7,” Harper said. “I don’t like striking out twice in one game,…

Cardinals 4, Padres 0: Tough break for San Diego to have Adam Wainwright figure it out and throw a four-hit shutout while they were in town, but I really do need them to go on a bad skid right now. I’m taking my kids to their first major league game when we go to San…

Braves 7, Marlins 0: Brandon Beachy: the best pitcher you haven’t heard of. He shuts out the Marlins on five hits and ups his record to 5-1 with a 1.33 ERA. Giants 7, Cardinals 5: Bad Cardinal defense and a little more offense than usual gave the Giants some runs on a day when Matt…

Rebuilding doesn’t have to be entirely depressing. The Astros — predicted by many to be a 100-loss team — won their fifth straight game on Saturday night in Houston, and their second straight against the defending World Series champion Cardinals. Houston is one game under .500 (13-14), good enough for third place in the National…

Royals 8, Indians 2: I keep hitting refresh on the scoreboard but nothing changes so, apparently, this is correct and the Royals actually won a game. Billy Butler hit two homers as Kansas City beat up on Ubaldo Jimenez. Mets 5, Marlins 1: David Wright hit a two-run homer, giving him 735 RBI in his…

Houston’s offense is one of the most improved in baseball and sophomore second baseman Jose Altuve is a big reason why. He came into today hitting .344 with a .918 OPS and notched four more hits in a 7-5 victory over the Brewers. Altuve is a really fun player to watch because he’s 5-foot-5 (on…

Between now and Opening Day, HardballTalk will take a look at each of baseball’s 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2012 season. Up next: The departing ‘Stros. The Big Question: What will Houston’s farewell season in the National League look like? The short answer…

The 2012 Astros are pretty sure bets to lose 100 games, with the big question being whether they’ll top last year’s mark of 106 losses. That achievement will be tied to their ability to move the contracts of Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers and Carlos Lee. Ideally, they’d be able to sell off at least the…

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman hears that the Astros may have interest in infielder Ryan Theriot if he’s non-tendered by the Cardinals. The non-tender part sounds like a pretty good bet to happen, as the Cardinals have already pegged Daniel Descalso as their starting second baseman for next season and are “making progress” in bringing back…